Plans for the 50th anniversary of the Southeast Regional Library were discussed, along with funding shortfalls, programming ideas and a new video games collection were discussed at the annual meeting for the regional library, held on April 16 at the Captain’s Hall in Weyburn.
For the regional library’s 50th anniversary, the board of trustees were told that all 47 branches have booked a barbecue date, with the first one held on April 14, and the last one on Oct. 22, with most occurring between June and August.
The regional library is providing the food, birthday cake, juice, a few staff members and promotional materials such as balloons and stickers. The local communities will provide volunteers, a barbecue, tables and advertising.
An anniversary history display will be present at each event at each branch.
On the issue of funding, the trustees were informed that the provincial public library grant was frozen for 2015-16, but the grant formula worked against the Southeast Regional Library, and the system had a small decline in provincial funding. Municipalities paid on average an extra three per cent, which was used to increase staff compensation levels.
The branches are working through a needs assessment process, and when it’s completed, the branches will be better able to tailor their services and programs to the needs of their communities.
Allan Johnson, the CEO and library director for Southeast Regional Library, announced his plans to retire in 2017.
James Richards gave a presentation on the new video game collection, which was launched in February and joins four other library systems in the province that are offering the service.
The regional library has 400 items in this collection and it will grow in 2016, with games available for all major consoles on the market. Around 92 per cent of the collection was circulated in the first two months it was available.
Some of the positives for the library are that video games create an attraction to the library as younger generations are playing video games in increasing numbers.
Kate-Lee Nolin gave a report about Makerspace kits, with 20 kits created and launched in March of 2016. These are intended for branch staff and board members to put on new and unique branch programs.
Some kit include a button maker, a PS4 game console, LEGO, cooking utensils and 3Doodler. Rural branches can borrow three kits per month, and city branches can borrow five kits per month.
Trustee service awards were presented to Blaine Morrison of Stoughton, Charlotte Kovach of Maryfield, and Gerard Parent of Sedley. Branch awards of merit were presented by chairman Ken Sutherland to the Bengough, Estevan and Indian Head branches.
